The UDA headquarters of the Hult Prize
On 15 Wednesday in November at the Universidad del Azuay, the official launch of the UDA Hult Prize was celebrated, the largest social entrepreneurship competition in the world, and the Hult Prize 2017 challenge that aims to change the lives of 10 million inhabitants was made official.
The launch was accompanied by a press conference with the presence of Francisco Salgado, Rector of the UDA; Mishell Calle, Director Hult Prize campus UDA; Xavier Patiño, President of the Chamber of Commerce of Cuenca (CCC); Marisol Peñaloza, member of the qualifying jury and Analiz Gonzales, semifinalist Hult Prize 2016.
Hult Prize is a promoter of social enterprises around the world in which young university students can participate; this time it is implemented on the campus of the Universidad del Azuay.
The main objective of the Hult Prize is to generate social impact changes with university ventures that are adaptable and sustainable to the problems that arise annually: this year it is intended to harness the power of energy to change the life of 10 million inhabitants for the 2025 .
The problem this year arises under six dimensions of the use of energy that affects all of humanity, these are: connectivity; mobility; agriculture, food and crops; water collection, storage and transport; health and human experience; education.
In order to participate, university students must integrate groups of three to four participants, not necessarily from the same career; once enrolled they will begin to receive training talks and mentoring to polish the entrepreneurial ideas.
Once the groups are formed and the ideas are polished, the students will participate in the Hult Prize, appearing first in a local competition - being able to win a prize of $ 50.000 dollars - and then worldwide where the winning team will obtain $ 1 million dollars for the positive change in humanity.
During the launching of the UDA Hult Prize, motivational talks were held with the students, among them, with the participation of Roberto Maldonado, President of the Colineal group, who exhorted the young people of the importance of wanting to help others and create a change positive.
The December 2 will be the "Ideatón Energía Social", where sustainable solutions will be presented for the rural areas of the Cuenca canton, and the December 15 will be the local competition of the Hult Prize.
